National is notorious for causing homelessness through housing unaffordability, benefit cuts, and policies that serve landlords and the rich. But Labor is also notorious for causing a different type of homelessness, political homelessness. Labor consistently fails to stand for anything concrete. It tries to hold the center, appealing to both business interests and workingclass voters. But in doing so, it often just betrays the working class. It avoids making real commitments, rarely follows through on transformative promises, and backs down when challenged. Over time, this has pushed many of its supporters away, not just from Labor, but from centrist politics altogether. Political homelessness happens when people feel no party represents them. They may still care about political issues, but they no longer believe any party is willing or able to address them. In Labour's case, this has led to wave after wave of disillusionment. This disillusionment often pushes people towards more radical positions, sometimes towards the left, but also towards the far right. as just like a physically homeless person, a politically homeless person would seek shelter wherever they could find it. One of the first major betrayals came in the 1980s when Labour under Prime Minister David Longi introduced neoliberal economic reforms. These reforms, spearheaded by Finance Minister Roger Douglas, fundamentally shifted Labour's identity from a party of workers to a party of capital. The introduction of roenomics devastated unions and workingclass communities, transforming labor into a tool for corporate interests rather than the working people it once represented. This was the beginning of the end for many Labour members and voters who felt they had been abandoned. Jim Anderton, a former Labour MP, could no longer stomach the direction the party was taking and left to form the new Labour Party in 1989, which stood as a more genuinely left-wing alternative to Labour's embrace of neoliberalism. And departure was a clear sign that Labor had failed its core base of workers and marginalized communities in need of real systemic change. Around the same time of Labour's 1980s neoliberal reforms, another betrayal came affecting Palestinian and Mai communities when the Labour Party hired Wally Hirs, a member of the New Zealand Zionist Federation as race relations consiliator. This was an affront because he was appointed without proper consultation with Mai. After receiving criticism, Hirsch hit back with a statement akin to Hobson's pledge rhetoric, saying, "Nobody can claim to have a monopoly on racial sensitivity. No group can claim exclusive understanding of the needs of ethnic minorities." Roger Douglas, unhappy with Labour's unfinished commitment to fulfill his neoliberal agenda, left Labour and pushed further right and set up the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers in 1993 and ACT New Zealand as a political party in 1994 with Richard Prebble, another ex- Labour member. In 2004, Helen Clark introduced the Foreshore and Seabed Act, stripping WI of the right to claim ownership of the seabed and foreshore through the courts. She pushed the legislation through with haste, not out of necessity, but in defiance of a court of appeal ruling that upheld Mai customary rights and allowed WI to pursue claims. Instead of respecting that decision, Clark overruled it. The backlash was immediate. Thousands marched to Parliament, Mai and non-mari together. But Clark refused to address them, dismissing the protesters as haters and wreckers. Instead, she posed for a photo op with a sheep named Shrek. That was Labour's priority. That was their message. Tardiana Tia walked away and co-founded the Maui party after the foreshore and seabed betrayal. John Tamahedi also moved on, disillusioned by Labour's ongoing failure to deliver for Mari. To this day, Helen Clark says she has no regrets of her handling over the foreshore and seabed. In his earlier years, Shane Jones was extremely proari, taking part in the protest at Bastion Point. Later, Helen Clark urged him to join politics and become a Labour Party member. When he eventually left, he was eventually appointed by National as Pacific Economic Ambassador and went on a Pacific Day speech in 2014, confiding in the crowd about how it was much less stressful than the last nine years he had in Parliament. My name is Shane Jones, and after 9 years in politics, I find this audience very much more friendly. Thank you very much. A few years later, he aligned with New Zealand first, pushing far-right nationalism and extractivism. Quentyn Finley on a 2019 speech said that Labor is a right-wing neoliberal party and had abandoned its original values. Poor Paul Pierce and I were actually colleagues in the New Zealand Labor Party in the 1980s when the Labor Party of course erupted into open civil war. So is the Labour party a rocking party or party? Well, the Labour Party is a near Liberal Party. Uh basically in terms of the political spectrum, yeah, it was probably sitting the right. Um basically the sad thing is of course the National Party is more rightwing than the Labor Party and I think that that basically says something about the political spectrum here in New Zealand. Recently, Labor has undermined beneficiaries by introducing a two-tier benefit system during CO 19 restrictions that existing beneficiaries weren't allowed to get. And Chris Hipkins had called Tamatha Paul's comments that some marginalized communities distrust the police stupid and then when multiple members of the community brought it up, he would downplay or gaslight their experiences. statements like people feel less safe when they see more police um are wrong. I mean I feel that way and I know a lot of you know brown people a lot of women do feel questionable. I think it it is a very minority view. A lot of ethnic minority communities do feel alienated by the police New Zealand police is amongst the highest in the world. Police New Zealand police is amongst the highest in the world. you made those comments around the police on the day that a disabled child was forcibly injected with antiscychotics by the police. Um it I think it just really speaks to who the Labour party is is views as their voter base in that you al you're alienating let me finish critical of their action. Each of these figures represents a different form of political homelessness caused by Labour's inability to commit to a clear direction. This political homelessness doesn't just happen to their members, but to their voters, too. When people are politically homeless, they look for whatever is closest or loudest. Sometimes that's a more progressive alternative, but often it's the far right. Alienation is a major factor in people getting pulled down extremist pipelines. This is why Aloreroa needs more strong, principled political parties on the left. parties that are clearly pro- worker, pro- Maui, pro- environment, and pro- community. Not vague centrism like we see with Labor, but serious socialist pro- Mauy committed alternatives. If Labor continues on its current track, the solution isn't to wait for it to change. It may be to replace it entirely. Just as Labour replaced the Liberal Party in the early 1900s, a new political force may need to take its place to stop this cycle of betrayal and disillusionment.